


Unconditional

by thesometimeswarrior



Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender Canon Divergence AUs [9]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 08:51:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13267947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: The silence is heavy and awkward, humid with unexpressed emotion, and it clings to the convict’s skin, until finally the man on the other side of the bars breaks it with a soft voice. “My son…Lu Ten, why have you done this?”Iroh is just as baffled as he is heartbroken by Lu Ten's betrayal.(AU in which Lu Ten doesn't die at Ba Sing Se, and Iroh becomes Fire Lord.)





	Unconditional

**Author's Note:**

  * For [congratsyouvegrownasoul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/congratsyouvegrownasoul/gifts).



> This is based on/takes place within an AU that ao3 user congratsyouvegrownasoul (tumblr user nadyakrupskaya) prompted me to write headcanons for, in which Iroh actually becomes the Fire Lord. My post in which I flesh out that AU can be found [here](http://runrundoyourstuff.tumblr.com/post/169159373979/firelord-iroh-au), though I think all the relevant information is contained within the fic itself--and thus you probably don't need to read the post to read the fic!
> 
> In any case, I was really playing around with character here, and hoping to shine some lights into how certain characters act in canon too. (Perhaps dealing with some themes that come up, in a different way, in my canon compliment work [After Daybreak](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10876527)) I hope you enjoy!

The door to his cell clicks open, and the convict looks down, sees only the Fire Lord’s feet on the other side of the bars as the man steps inside and instructs the guards to leave—this is, evidently, a conversation that His Majesty wants to have without any spare, prying ears present. He keeps his gaze averted as the Fire Lord slowly sits and sighs, as he feels his eyes on him. (Is there a secret Firebending technique wherein the user heats what they’re looking at with their eyes—Is that why his face feels like it’s burning?)

The silence is heavy and awkward, humid with unexpressed emotion, and it clings to the convict’s skin, until finally the man on the other side of the bars breaks it with a soft voice. “My son…Lu Ten, why have you done this?”

With a great deal of effort, Lu Ten pries his head up to look his father in the eyes, and immediately regrets it when sees how _pained_ they look. “I never wanted to hurt you, Dad.”

“And yet you are not a fool. You must have realized that Earth Kingdom rebels did not have my health as their highest priori—”

“It was never supposed to _be_ about the rebels! It’s still _not_ about them! Aang said—”

“The Avatar is clearly more of an enemy of the Fire Nation than I anticipated.” Iroh sighs a second time. “This is partially my own fault—if I had heeded my grandfather’s warning about him when I was a boy and not given _this_ iteration of him so much freedom after we captured him, he would not have been able to corrupt you, and—” 

“He didn’t _corrupt_ me! Aang couldn’t _corrupt_ anybody!”

“My son, he has turned you into a traitor.” His father makes this counterpoint gently and sadly, without anger, and _that_ , thinks Lu Ten, makes it harder to hear than if his father had demonstrated the full might of the Dragon of the West.

“That wasn't Aang.”

“Then what?”

“We’ve been causing people such _suffering_ for a hundred years. We still are.”

“We are sharing—”

“Do you really believe that? Do you know how many Earth Kingdom people we’ve killed? How many children are growing up without parents? How many parents have lost children? And _Aang's_ people...And it hasn’t even stopped since we’ve conquered Ba Sing Se—I saw it myself while I was stationed in the Earth Kingdom last year, we treat the people who live in our territory terribly—I don’t even _blame_ the rebels.”

“And so you joined them.”

Lu Ten shakes his head. “I was just trying to find an Earthbending teacher for Aang. They seemed like a good place to start. It was only a coincidence that that was where Zuko found us—we weren’t planning on staying with them all that long.”

“And where is the Avatar now?”

“I don’t know. All I did was give him time to get away. And honestly, Dad, even if I did know, I couldn’t tell you.”

“I see. Very well.” Iroh pauses, sighs again. “My son…I do not understand. What was your ultimate aim?”

Lu Ten bows his chin low, looks down toward the dusty ground of his cell. “I just wanted us to _stop_. To _not_ try to conquer the Water Tribes. To give the Earth Kingdom back to its people. And I thought, if Aang could be trained and become a fully-realized Avatar like in the legends…if he told you to end the War and free the Earth Kingdom, you’d _listen_. I never wanted you—or anyone else—to get hurt.” He looks up. “I guess, of all the things I inherited from you, your tactical genius wasn’t one of them.”

His father’s eyebrows crease in what in other circumstances would be immediately recognizable as concern. “Are you truly that ashamed of us and all that we have accomplished?”

_Yes._ The young man inhales, considering, in lieu of a direct answer. “I’ve only ever lost friends and comrades. Like at Ba Sing Se. And that was so painful…I can’t imagine losing a child, Dad. And we have taken so many of these people’s children. It’s _wrong_.”

He looks at his father, hoping to see a reaction, a change in his eyes, but he finds none. Instead, the man merely says: “We shall not argue about it now.”

Now Lu Ten sighs, and they sit in another silence for a moment. “Treason is a capital offense,” he continues when it seems to pass, willing his voice to be steady. “Traitors are executed.” He pauses. “Am I going to be execu—”

“No.” Iroh responds immediately, with an amount of force that surprises Lu Ten.

“But _why_? I—”

“Because you are my son.”

He opens his mouth to respond, but finds an inexplicable lump in his throat instead of words, and sits dumb, eyes locked on his father.

After a moment, the man seems to sense this and continues. “Of course, it is no longer possible for you to be Crown Prince and heir to the throne. And I am afraid that this,” he motions to the prison around them, “must be your home from now on. But,” Iroh reaches through the bars and grips Lu Ten’s hand with his own. “You will be taken care of. You will be fed well. No one will harm you. And you will not be alone more than you must be. I shall come to visit you each day.”

“Dad…I…”

Iroh moves his grip from Lu Ten’s hand to his face, lays his palm on his son’s cheek. “I love you, my son.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

The sensation of his father’s hand on his face lingers on skin, even after Iroh pulls it back through the bars to freedom, rises, signals to the guards standing watch outside, and leaves the cell with a promise to return the following day. And as Lu Ten is left alone, he raises his own hand to where his father’s had lain, holds it there as he sits in the quiet, pondering.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please consider leaving a comment!


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